Diving valves and regulators

ABSTRACT

A valve for use with diving breathing equipment to be connected to a compressed air tank and having an automatic air regulation reserve device at one side for automatically interrupting the supply of air at the proper moment in response to the depth in the water of the diver and the air consumption time requiring the diver to operate the opposite manually operated reserve for a sufficient period to enable the diver to ascend carrying out the decompression stages.

United States Patent [191 Ferrando Nov. 18, 1975 1 DIVING VALVES AND REGULATORS [76] Inventor: Juan Vilarrubis Ferrando, calle Sagrera, 44 to 58, Barcelona, Spain 22 Filed: July 5,1973

21 Appl. No.: 376,515

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 5, 1972 Spain 404538 [52] U5. Cl. 137/81; 128/142.2; 137/494;

137/505.42; 137/D1G. 9 [51] Int. Cl. B63C 11/22; F16K 31/126 [58] Field of Search 137/63 R, DIG. 9, 81, 599, 137/494; 128/142, 142.2, 145.8

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,147,761 9/1964 Lecocq 137/81 3,495,607 2/1970 Shugarman 137/81 Primary Examiner-Alan Cohan Assistant ExaminerRichard Gerard Attorney, Agent, or FirmUlle C. Linton- [57] ABSTRACT A valve for use with diving breathing equipment to be connected to a compressed air tank and having an automatic air regulation reserve device at one side for automatically interrupting the supply of air at the proper moment in response to the depth in the water of the diver and the air consumption time requiring the diver to operate the opposite manually operated reserve for a sufficient period to enable the diver to ascend carrying out the decompression stages.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 18, 1975 Sheetlof4 3,920,033

US. Patent Nov. 18, 1975 Sheet3 0f4 3,920,033

I zih y x mm FIG. 3b

US. Patent Nov. 18, 1975 Sheet4 of4 3,920,033

DIVING VALVES AND REGULATORS The object of the present invention is to guarantee the exclusive exploitation and distribution of improvements made in the fabication of valves and pressure regulators used for diving, said improvements being described below:

The valve or pressure regulator for diving, provided with the improvements which are the subject of the present invention, has as its essential characteristic a reserve system with compensating action, said system automatically varying the reserve pressure as a function of the depth of the dive or immersion and a manual reserve device. In this form and with these improvements it is ensured that immersion to a greater depth will produce a higher reserve air pressure in the diving suit in the event that no air for breathing reaches the diver and the latter is forced to operate the manual reserve lever.

In order to provide the maximum detail and clarity for the mechanisms which are the object of the im-. provements to be patented, several drawings have been attached to the description, said drawings serving as an example without restriction and showing a practical embodiment of a case of the application of an improved pressure regulator, specifically in FIGS. 1 and 2 FIG. 1 is a cross section of the body of the apparatus with said section being taken along the vertical plane of the mounting bracket for the compressed air tank.

FIG. 2 is a partial section of said body, along a plane perpendicular to that of the preceding figure and on line M-N-O of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of said body, FIG. 3a is a section taken on 3a-3a of FIG. 3, FIG. 3b is a section taken on line 3b3b of FIG. 3 and,

FIG. 4 is a view partially in section of the present device connected directly to a compressed air tank.

In the drawings one can see the first stage of the regulator 7, extended to form mounting bracket 8 which connects to the compressed air tank and is held in place by screw 9. Air inlet 10, which is protected by a filtration device 11, continues through passage 12 and branches off at 13 towards the valve device for automatic reserve shown in FIG. 1 and towards the opposite manually activated reserve shown in FIG. 2.

The valve device for automatic regulation consists of a cap in the form of a housing 14, with a water-tight seal 15 and containing the shut-off valve' 16 pressed firmly against the opening of passage 13 by coil spring 17, said spring pressing on washer 18, said washer moving freely in socket 19 and the pressure of said spring being adjustable by means of adjusting screw 20.

Protective cover 21 covers the assembly as well as flexible cap 22 which is held in place by cover 21. The space inside the cap is packed with grease to protect the automatic reserve mechanism. The external water pressure also acts on throttle valve 16 to press on elastic cap 22, since it has free access through the opening .in protective cover 21.

which the ends of pin 28, which extends through the stem of valve 23, rests. The cylindrical stem of valve 23 is extended to connect with control shaft 26 of the reserve, said shaft being attached to lever 27 for turning with said lever, at which time pin 28 will slide over the inside cam of body 24 pulling valve 23, overcoming the resistance of coil spring 29 and leaving a free air passage through the intake hole of line 13.

The mechanism for regulating the compressed air is mounted in the cental zone of housing 7 and is formed by the mechanism of the high pressure chamber, consisting of a shut-off valve 30 which impedes the passage of air from the cylindrical opening 31 to the chamber 37, said valve 30 being held shut by coil spring 32 whose pressure can be regulated by threaded plug 33. The rear stem of the valve passes through the blind central passage 34 0f the plug, fitting it perfectly. Passage 34 communicates through lateral passages 35 with perpendicular passage 36 which leads to upper chamber 37, said chamber 37 being sealed by membrane 38 against which guide disc 39 of the regulator spring 40 rests, all of the above being held in place by threaded housing 41 provided with tension-adjustment plug 42. Housing 41 is covered by elastic cap 43 which is covered'in turn by protection cover 44, said cover 44 being mounted so that the space within the cover can be packed with grease for the same reason as in the case of the automatic reserve and also activated by the pressure of the water through the elastic cap on membrane 38.

Membrane 38, mounted on cap 45 of striker 46 which acts on valve 30, pushes on the latter and opens the air passageway.

The air contained in chamber 37 passes through passage 47 to connection 48 which is connected to the respirator regulator valve at its second stage.

In FIG. 3 there is shown a diagram of the reduced pressure fluid circuit towards the second stage and simultaneously for the compensation of valve 30. FIG. 3 includes the sectional view of housing 7 and FIGS. 3a and 3b include sectional views showing the limit of chamber 37 openings 47 and 36 and details of said sections.

The air entering the regulator from the tank is under high pressure and passes through opening 12 and passage 13 to the automatic reserve, overcoming the action of spring 17 and then passing through passage 49 to cavity 31 in the regulator valve. In the first case (automatic reserve) the air pressure opens valve 16 and the air passes through line 49 to chamber 31. When the diver inhales, the pressure in chamber 37 drops, so that spring 40 displaces membrane 38 and the latter presses on striker 46 to displace valve 30 to allow the passage of air of chamber 31 which fills chamber 37, forcing the membrane 38 to return to its initial position, aided further by the air in the chamber which communicates via passages 36 and 35 with the interior 34 of the plug 33 where the air acts on the end of the valve 30, said valve then being pushed firmly.

As the pressure in the tank falls or the external pressure rises, spring 17 moves to close the air connection between the automatic reserve and passage 49 so that the diver will be warned and, by opening the manual reserve valve by lever 27, will be able to continue breathing as he returns to the surface. The manual reserve is operated by lever 27 which turns to displace valve 23, allowing air to pass through passages 50 to central chamber 31. The air passes through tube 48 to the second stage of the breathing apparatus, as is presently known.

The example shown in FIG. 4 shows the application of the above-described improvements to a valve whose housing 51 is mounted directly on the outlet of the compressed air tank by means of a screw thread 52.

One of the projections 53 of the housing of the valve contains the automatic reserve mechanism as shown in FIG. 1, covered by protected cover 21.

The opposite projection 54 contains the manually activated reserve, operable by means of exterior lever 27 as shown in FIG. 2.

The valve shown in the illustrative example has air outlet 55 in the upper front part, said outlet being controlled by the act of regulation and plug 56.

The subject of the invention having been sufficiently described, it should be noted that when it is put to practical use it will be possible to vary the shapes, dimensions, proportions and arrangement of the various elements as well as the materials used without altering or modifying its essential nature.

I claim:

I. A valve for use in diving breathing equipment comprising a housing connectable to a compressed air tank and having an air inlet passage with two branches and an air outlet, an automatic valving means in said 4 housing normally closing one of said branches in response to the pressure of the surrounding water as against the pressure in said one of said branches, a manually operated valving means in said housing normally closing the other of said branches and a third valving means in said housing communicating with both said automatic and manual valving means and the air outlet of said housing and operable by the diflerential between the air pressure under control in said third valving means and the pressure of the surrounding water, said automatic valving means comprising a cylindrical housing being mounted in said first housing, a shut-off valve being slidably mounted in said cylindrical housing, a coil spring tending to retain said valve against said one of said branches closing the same, means for adjusting the pressure of said spring, said cylindrical housing having openings venting the spring side of said shut-off valve to ambient pressure, an elastic cap covering said cylindrical housing openings, a lubricating substance in said elastic cap and cylindrical housing and an outside cap having openings, mounted on said first housing and covering said elastic cap with said outside cap openings being open to said elastic cap whereby outside water can act on said shut-off valve tending to close the same. 

1. A valve for use in diving breathing equipment comprising a housing connectable to a compressed air tank and having an air inlet passage with two branches and an air outlet, an automatic valving means in said housing normally closing one of said branches in response to the pressure of the surrounding water as against the pressure in said one of said branches, a manually operated valving means in said housing normally closing the other of said branches and a third valving means in said housing communicating with both said automatic and manual valving means and the air outlet of said housing and operable by the differential between the air pressure under control in said third valving means and the pressure of the surrounding water, said automatic valving means comprising a cylindrical housing being mounted in said first housing, a shut-off valve being slidably mounted in said cylindrical housing, a coil spring tending to retain said valve against said one of said branches closing the same, means for adjusting the pressure of said spring, said cylindrical housing having openings venting the spring side of said shut-off valve to ambient pressure, an elastic cap covering said cylindrical housing openings, a lubricating substance in said elastic cap and cylindrical housing and an outside cap having openings, mounted on said first housing and covering said elastic cap with said outside cap openings being open to said elastic cap whereby outside water can act on said shut-off valve tending to close the same. 